Quranic root
سلو
s · l · w
The root centers on release from attachment, grief, or privation through forgetfulness, contentment, or consolation.
The basic sense of becoming free from love or loss develops into causative and reflexive verbs, abstract nouns for consolation, and names for things believed to provide relief. The Quranic سَلْوَىٰ is also the name of a bird.
- Lane · entry 41994
- Lane · entry 41995
- Mufradāt · row 712
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَلْوَىٰ
salwāā
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 3 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
A bird, traditionally identified with the quail.
In the Quranic occurrences, سَلْوَىٰ denotes the bird provided as sustenance alongside manna. Broader Classical uses of the same word are listed separately.
- Lane · entry 42003
- Mufradāt · row 712
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:57word 7
“and [the] quails”
Quran 7:160word 32
“and the quails”
Quran 20:80word 14
“and the quails”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:57وَٱلسَّلْوَىٰ ۖand [the] quails
- 7:160وَٱلسَّلْوَىٰ ۖand the quails
- 20:80وَٱلسَّلْوَىٰand the quails
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 14 Classical meanings
سَلَا
To become forgetful or unmindful of a person or thing; to endure its loss; or to become content without it and free from love, grief, or anxiety.
Commonly construed with عَنْ for detachment from a person or thing. With أَنْ followed by a verb, it may mean to neglect or fail to do something rather than simply forget it.
- Lane · entry 41994
سَلَّى
To make someone forget or become detached from a person or thing; to make someone content without it; to comfort, console, or relieve grief or anxiety.
A causative transitive use; عَنْ may introduce what someone is made to forget or relinquish.
- Lane · entry 41995
أَسْلَوَ
Of a people or party, to become secure from a beast of prey.
A specialized Classical use describing safety from predatory danger.
- Lane · entry 41996
تَسَلَّى
To console oneself, become content, or make oneself forgetful of a person or thing; to become free from anxiety.
A reflexive or effortful form that can express seeking or affecting consolation and detachment.
- Lane · entry 41997
اِنْسَلَى
For anxiety to be removed or clear away from a person.
The anxiety or distress is construed as the subject undergoing removal.
- Lane · entry 41998
سَلْوَةٌ
A state of consolation, contentment, or patient endurance in the absence or loss of something; by extension, ease and pleasant abundance of life.
The word may denote either emotional relief or a comfortable, plentiful condition of living.
- Lane · entry 42001
سَلْوَى
Honey.
A reported Classical application of سَلْوَى distinct from the bird sense; some authorities reject this usage.
- Lane · entry 42003
سَلْوَى
Anything that brings forgetfulness, contentment, or happiness during deprivation.
The term can denote a thing that consoles; honey is associated with this use because of its sweetness.
- Lane · entry 42003
سُلْوَانٌ
A supposed consoling draught, medicine, or object used to relieve passionate love, grief, or privation and produce forgetfulness or contentment.
Descriptions include water prepared with dust, a bead, a pebble, or a medicinal preparation; the reported explanations concern customary beliefs rather than a single standardized substance.
- Lane · entry 42004
سُلَّى
A quality or condition that makes one forget objects of love or become content without them.
An abstract designation for the state or quality of emotional detachment.
- Lane · entry 42007
سَالٍ
Having the heart free from love or affection.
An active participial description of a person whose attachment has ended or been removed.
- Lane · entry 42008
مُسْلَاةٌ
A means or cause of forgetfulness or freedom from anxieties.
A noun denoting something that provides relief from distress.
- Lane · entry 42009
المُسَلِّي
The third horse to reach the goal in a race of ten horses.
A specialized racing term.
- Lane · entry 42010
مُتَسَلًّى
A place in which one may find consolation or become content without a person or thing.
A noun of place associated with the reflexive or self-consoling use of تَسَلَّى.
- Lane · entry 42011
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic form is normalized to سَلْوَىٰ rather than copying the internal QAC lemma display mechanically.
The Quranic occurrences are represented by the bird sense; broader Classical applications of the same spelling, including honey and a consoling thing, are kept separate.
The bird is traditionally identified with the quail, while the supplied lexical evidence does not establish a more precise zoological classification.